Bollywood on hit parade!

By Hindustan Times

Mumbai, Sept. 15 -- The Hindi film industry seems to be on a roll at the moment. In the months following the fourth edition of cricket T20 tournament, Indian Premier League, most films have worked pretty well at the box office. More than a couple of films have made decent profits for the trade chain including distributors, exhibitors and producers.

Bodyguard's nationwide 15-day net figures are R 128 crore. Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, which released last weekend, had netted R 30 crore as of Monday night. So far this year, there have been at least 10 hits, thanks to the lead star cast in most cases, and tightly controlled budgets in exceptional cases.

Tradesmith Amod Mehra points out that although films like Murder 2 and Delhi Belly didn't cross the R 50 crore net mark in terms of returns, they've made enough money to be categorised as hits. "Most producers, exhibitors and distributors have reasons to rejoice because there are fewer films this year have proved to be absolute duds. Small ones made money because of their budgets. The biggies like Ready, Singham and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara worked, largely because of the cast and the way the stories were presented," he adds.

The earnings from any movie are usually divided into portions. For instance, if a movie makes R 200 crore, 45 per cent is paid as tax. The remaining is divided between distributors, exhibitors and at times, producers who claim a share in the overflow. Manoj Desai, of the popular G-7 single screen chain in Bandra, states that a lot of producers don't turn to the overflow because they earn enough through satellite and video rights. "I'm quite sure the Bodyguard producers are likely to claim a share in the overflow because of the way the movie is making bucks right now," he remarks.

Sanjay Ghai, a Delhi-based distributor at Mukta Arts, adds, "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan might make beyond R 60 crore net. The 'shraddh' period is likely to be grim but after that, we have little to worry about till February 2012."